Samuel L. Jackson Schools Interviewer After Amateur Mistake

Samuel L. Jackson has never been known to stay silent in the face of a perceived injustice, but the gaffe that set him off this time would have had anyone reeling. The "Robocop" star was mistaken for Laurence Fishburne during a KTLA interview that aired Monday. It was a mistake anchor Sam Rubin was quickly made to regret.

This is Samuel L. Jackson.

"Did you get a lot of reaction from that Super Bowl commercial?" the TV anchor asked.

"What Super Bowl commercial?" Jackson asked bewildered. An awkward pause followed, with Rubin looking off camera clearly embarrassed, before he tried to continue the interview as if nothing had happened. But it was too late and the actor was on to him.

"You're as crazy as the people on Twitter," the 65-year-old actor said. "I'm not Laurence Fishburne. We don't all look alike. We may be all black and famous, but we all don't look alike. You're busted."

As Rubin was desperately looking for a way out of the jam, Jackson launched the ultimate burn: "You're the entertainment reporter for this station?" he asked. "And you don't know the difference between me and Laurence Fishburne? There must be a very short line for your job."

This is not Samuel L. Jackson, in case anyone's still confused.

It was all said with a smile, but the meaning behind Jackson’s tangent was not lost on anyone. The actor was clearly irritated. And, in case anyone had actually missed the point, Jackson went on to list his credentials, alongside those of other Black actors with commercials to prove a point. Despite Ruben’s attempt to steer the conversation in a more comfortable direction, Jackson firmly maintained his point. "Oh hell no!" he said still shocked by the anchor's mistake.

"Really? I'm the other guy." The Capital One spokesperson even used examples from his recent ad campaign to clarify who he is and who he is not. "There's more than one black guy doing a commercial," he pointed out. "I'm the 'What's in your wallet?' black guy. Morgan Freeman is the other credit card black guy. You only hear his voice though so you probably won't confuse him with Laurence Fishburne."

"You're 100% right," Rubin said still trying to diffuse the situation. "On to 'Robocop.'"

No such luck. Jackson continued to dominate the conversation.

"Do we want to do a list of all the people you're not?" the reporter jokingly asked. "I have actually never done a McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial," Jackson quipped. "I know that's surprising."

Finally, Jackson turned his focus on the Jose Padilha-directed film he was there to interview about, but not without joking about Ruben’s blunder some more.

"I'm the only black guy in 'Robocop' that's not a criminal," he said. "Except for Michael K. Williams."

The embarrassed anchor apologized later in the programme. “I pride myself on the fact — that unlike a lot of people who do this kind of work — more often than not, I really do know what I’m talking about," he added. "I’m really embarrassed about (what happened), and I very much apologize to Samuel L. Jackson and anyone else who was offended for what was a very amateur mistake.”

If you do this to Jackson, expect to get schooled.